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Lawyer became state’s first black elected official post Reconstruction

An even greater milestone was reached a half century ago this month, on April 17, 1962, in Riviera Beach:

Frank Malcolm Cunningham became the first black person elected to public office in Florida, and possibly, the South, since Reconstruction.

A committee comprising Cunningham’s relatives, friends and admirers is set to hold a “diversity luncheon” April 17.

Born in 1927, Cunningham, whose father was a Plant City farmer and grocer, was barred from Florida law schools, so instead got his degree from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1953. He then moved with his wife and new child to West Palm Beach.

His in-laws fretted that a black lawyer would have no chance in the white man’s courtroom. Undaunted, he became Palm Beach County’s second black attorney.

Cunningham belonged to the Negro Welfare Board and the Colored Property Owners Association. But he wanted to be part of more than “Negro” this and “Colored” that. So in 1956 he ran for the Riviera Beach council.

While it’s predominantly black now, at the time, white voters outnumbered blacks two to one.

Cunningham outpolled incumbent Bruce Caddy by 200 votes. But Caddy bested him in the runoff, 1,362 to 952.

In fact, he was at a loss as to how Cunningham’s tally included 299 votes in an almost all-white precinct. “It shows that people are changing their way of thinking,” Cunningham said.

Next Week: You can’t kill an idea whose time has come.

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The Malcolm Cunningham anniversary diversity luncheon is set for 11:30 a.m. April 17 at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, 2224 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., West Palm Beach Call (561)596-1357 or visit the Celebrate Diversity website for more information.

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Post Talks: Florida’s Wonderful and Wacky History

Join Post reporter and author Eliot Kleinberg as he takes you on a whirlwind tour of 500 years of Florida history, and how it has changed Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast for better or worse. Eliot makes a strong argument that Florida’s biggest challenge is encouraging its transplants to become Floridians, so they will engage in solving the state’s problems.